Mountain House survival food has been a go-to brand for over fifty years among campers, backpackers and survival experts who know quality when they see it–and more importantly when they taste it.

Originally making freeze-dried meals for US Special Forces, Mountain House food buckets are well known for their reliability and delicious flavor, which can be hard to find in these types of emergency meals. This particular brand has been chosen time and again as the best all around survival food that money can buy, no matter the situation. When failure is not an option, Mountain House is chosen.

General Features: Mountain House Survival Food

The Mountain House Just In Case Classic Bucket features a total of 12 meals, enough to feed one person for three and a half days.

The meals included in this bucket are,

2 beef stroganoff

2 chicken teriyaki

2 noodles and chicken

2 lasagna with meat sauce

2 beef stew

2 granola with milk and blueberries.

Mountain House buckets are stackable and portable and all the pouches inside feature a 30 year Taste Guarantee. If this quality is ever found to be lacking at any point within those years, Mountain House emergency food will replace the product at no cost to you with the same product, or a reasonable equivalent.

These pouch meals are incredibly easy to prepare. You simply add hot water and in less than ten minutes, your meal is ready to eat. The best part is that there are no pots or pans needed, so no messy cleanup afterwards. You can prepare and eat from the same package and simply throw it away. Each pouch contains 1-3 servings and has a 4 out of 5 star rating for durability.

These emergency food buckets include a total of 12 meals, in pouches, at 1-3 servings per pouch

Pouches have a 12+ year Taste Guarantee with free replacement

Just-Add-Water feature allows you to eat in ten minutes or less, no pots or pans needed.

Great product durability and storage features

Shortfalls: Mountain House Survival Food

The most common critique of the Mountain House Bucket is that the food is okay but not great. Given that this kind of emergency bucket is supposed to be used in cases of—you guess it—emergencies I never saw this to be much of a problem.

But, it is something worth pointing out. The food is good, but many people searching for a more gourmet option might not be pleased. In such a case, you might want to try Wise’s gourmet options.

Don’t get me wrong, the Mountain House product isn’t some MRE or emergency food ration, but if you are looking for true gourmet emergency food, you might not only rate these at say—3 out of 5 stars.

Think of Mountain House as a solid in between brand between bland MREs and extremely expensive gourmet food buckets. They are still a great choice, but it’s all in what you want.

Recommendation: Mountain House Dried Food

Overall, this seems to be a product that is worth the money spent. The durability, storage options, shelf life and ease of preparation are definite scores for the good.

The Taste Guarantee states that if this food is not as good as it should be, that it will be replaced with the same, or an equivalent product, which means there’s really nothing to lose.

While some may not like the taste, they may only be comparing it to the “good” food that we all get because we’re not in actual emergency situations. Drastic times will certainly make some foods taste much better and when it comes down to the real nitty gritty, it’s not really that bad.

If you are looking for quality emergency food at an affordable price, you can’t beat Mountain House’s emergency meals.